The present invention discloses a method for timing races and an apparatus for performing the method including a cinematographic camera, the lens of which is directed onto the finishing line in order to record second events occurring at the end of the race at a finish line.
Apparatus of this type, generally referred to as photo-finish, is known from British Pat. No. 1,045,434 in which there is described timing apparatus comprising a photographic camera for which the film is advanced in a uniform smooth fashion and having means enabling the photographing of a narrow space or one line at a time, and furthermore means permitting the projection of time indications onto the film.
A method for the determination of times separating the passages of moving objects across a reference line substantially perpendicular to the trajectory is furthermore known from Swiss Pat. No. 590 518. In this patent, the installation shown includes a television camera obtained from a conventional camera in which two scans are permuted in a manner such that the more rapid scan is effected along a vertical direction and for which the slower scan is suppressed.
In the first mentioned case there is employed a usual type of cinematographic camera recording onto a photographic film which is moved at a constant speed behind a slotted lens aimed along the finish line in order to determine the times separating the crossing of the finish line by the various participants. When a moving object crosses the finish line its image is thus reproduced on the film. There is recorded on the same film and at the same time as the images of the participants a time scale represented by reference points each spaced apart at one hundredth of a second. The camera includes a time counter which is started at the same time as the emission of a start signal for the race but for which the references are not recorded on the film since the latter is not started until a short lapse of time prior to the arrival of the participants at the finish. The film, once developed, will show the various stages of the crossing of the participants at the finish line.
FIG. 1 on the drawings will help in understanding the sequence of timing such as it appears according to known techniques utilised up to the present and such as has been described for instance in the journal "Die Uhr", No. 12, of 25th June, 1972 (pages 14-18). The race lanes, of which one only has been shown on the drawing, each include a starting block 2 represented here in the form of a starting block for a sprint type race. This block includes a switch 3 which will be actuated by the foot of the athlete at the moment of departure as well as a loudspeaker 4 intended to transmit to the athlete orders given by the starter and the start signal. The starter transmits his orders to the course by means of a microphone 5 of which the signal is amplified by an amplifier 6. The starter gives the start signal by pressing on the trigger of pistol 7. The detonation thereof is picked up by microphone 5 and is sensed by the runner in the loudspeaker 4. The pistol 7 includes a contact 8 which closes in synchronism with the detonation produced by the percussion on the cartridge. Closing of contact 8 sets off the counter of an apparatus 9 herein referred to as the control centre for false starts. The spread between the start signal sent to the centre via line 10 and the actual departure of the runner reaches the said centre via line 11 and is recorded onto a paper tape 12. Should there be a premature start, a false start signal 13 is emitted by centre 9 then amplified by the amplifier 6 in order to arrive finally at the headphones worn by the starter who has then the time to cancel the start. FIG. 1 further shows that at the end of lane 1 is to be found a finish line 15 onto which is aimed the cinematographic camera 16. Line 17 which couples the contact 8 of pistol 7 to the camera 16 permits the starting of the counter incorporated into said camera. Shortly before the arrival of the runners in the race the operator starts the film contained in the camera this having as a result, on the one hand, to inscribe the arrival times and, on the other hand, to photograph each runner as he crosses the finish line. The film 18 is thereafter developed in order to provide a record of results obtained by the several participants.
The system which has just been briefly described presents various difficulties. Initially the instant of starting the electronic counter in the camera does not always correspond to the moment at which the athlete senses the starting command, even if he has the advantage of the sound transmission installation described in FIG. 1 and shown by microphone 5, amplifier 6 and loudspeaker 4. Additionally no document carries the proof that the camera counter has been properly reset to zero and that it is restarted simultaneously with the start signal. A further difficulty results from the fact that the system requires the examination of separate documents: the first (paper tape 12) provides information concerning events which have taken place at the beginning of the race (start signal, reaction time of the athletes), the second (photo 18) of events occurring at the finish line (photo, time scale recorded). Finally there is no proof that for a given announced figure for the wind speed this figure corresponds to the course as shown up in the photographic document.
There is further noted the U.S. Pat. No. 2,590,389 which describes a horse race timing system and comprises essentially a moving camera which precedes the first horse in the race by about fifteen meters. At the same time that it records the development of the race, this camera records data relative to the elapsed time and the speed of the wind as carried by instruments situated in front of its lens. The classifying of the participants may be deduced from their apparent dimensions. However, additional indications in order to verify the position of the horses passing by an inspection post are only given by analysing the recordings made by another fixed camera for which the axis of the lens is perpendicular to the course line.
It will be understood from the above description that the system proposed is complicated and requires a moving camera subject to frequent mechanical problems. Moreover, the proposed system requires two documents in order to judge exactly the time and the ranking of the participants. In contrast to what has been previously described, it will be seen that the arrangement described in the present invention requires only one camera and a single document on which all data concerning the race are present thereby eliminating all controversy or risk of error.